


Listening guide for The Rite of Spring

by FermionCat



Category: No Fandom
Genre: Classical Music, Educational
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2020-01-04 12:34:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18343799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FermionCat/pseuds/FermionCat
Summary: “Of all the scandals of the history of art, none is so scandalous as the one that took place on the evening of 29 May 1913 in Paris at the premiere of Stravinsky's ballet The Rite of Spring. The Rite descended into a riot, the story goes…Dozens of witnesses left accounts of the evening, but they tend to say different things. According to some, blows were exchanged, objects were thrown at the stage, and at least one person was challenged to a duel.”-Hewett, Ivan. "Did The Rite of Spring Really Spark a Riot?" BBC News.





	Listening guide for The Rite of Spring

**Author's Note:**

> This listening guide corresponds to Leonard Bernstein’s iconic 1966 direction of _The Rite of Spring_ with the London Symphony Orchestra. Professional musicians are trained to convey meaning through both their musicality and body language, so please watch the performance if you feel lost. For further visuals, please see the [2009 reconstruction of the original choreography](https://youtu.be/_QZXrPJGLJ0?t=270) by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Ballet (formerly the [Imperial Russian Ballet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariinsky_Ballet)).

* * *

### Part I: L’Adoration de la Terre (0:46 - 15:43)

* * *

Introduction: [0:46 - 3:59](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=46)

_The opening melody is played by a solo bassoon in a very high register, which renders the instrument almost unidentifiable; gradually other woodwind instruments are sounded and are eventually joined by strings. The sound builds up before stopping suddenly, Hill says, "just as it is bursting ecstatically into bloom." Before the curtain rises, an orchestral introduction resembles, according to Stravinsky, "a swarm of spring pipes.”_

Les Augures printaniers: [3:59 - 7:14](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=239)

_The celebration of spring begins in the hills. An old woman enters and begins to foretell the future. "Augurs of Spring" is characterised by a repetitive stamping chord in the horns and strings. The rhythm of the stamping is disturbed by Stravinsky's constant shifting of the accent, on and off the beat, before the dance ends in a collapse, as if from exhaustion._

_one two three four five six seven eight_  
_one **two** three **four** five six seven eight_  
_one **two** three four **five** six seven eight_  
_**one** two three four five **six** seven eight_

_According to Roger Nichols (1978, p7) “At first sight there seems no pattern in the distribution of accents to the stamping chords. Taking the initial quaver of bar 1 as a natural accent we have for the first outburst the following groups of quavers: 9, 2, 6, 3, 4, 5, 3. However, these apparently random numbers make sense when split into two groups:_

_9 6 4 3_  
_2 3 5_

_Clearly the top line is decreasing, the bottom line increasing, and by respectively decreasing and increasing amounts …Whether Stravinsky worked them out like this we shall probably never know. But the way two different rhythmic ‘orders’ interfere with each other produced apparent chaos.”_

Jeu du rapt: [7:15 - 8:25](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=435)

_Young girls arrive from the river, in single file. They begin the Dance of the Abduction. The "Ritual of Abduction" which follows is described by Hill as "the most terrifying of musical hunts". It concludes in a series of flute trills that usher in the "Spring Rounds."_

Rondes printanières: [8:25 - 11:55](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=505)

_The young girls dance the[Khorovod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khorovod), the Spring Rounds…in which a slow and laborious theme gradually rises to a dissonant fortissimo, a "ghastly caricature" of the episode's main tune._

Jeux des cités rivales: [11:55 - 13:43](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=715)

_The people divide into two groups in opposition to each other, and begin the Ritual of the Rival Tribes. Brass and percussion predominate as the "Ritual of the Rival Tribes" begins. A tune emerges on tenor and bass tubas._

Cortège du sage: Le Sage: [13:43 - 14:20](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=823)

_A holy procession leads to the entry of the wise elders, headed by the Sage who brings the games to a pause. The music then comes to a virtual halt, "bleached free of colour," as the Sage blesses the earth (Hill)._

Danse de la terre: [14:20 - 15:43](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=860)

_The people break into a passionate dance, sanctifying and becoming one with the earth. The "Dance of the Earth" then begins, bringing Part I to a close in a series of phrases of the utmost vigour which are abruptly terminated in what Hill describes as a "blunt, brutal amputation."_

* * *

### Part II: Le Sacrifice (16:28 - 34:14)

* * *

Introduction: [16:28 - 21:17](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=988)

_Part II has a greater cohesion than its predecessor. Hill describes the music as following an arc stretching from the beginning of the Introduction to the conclusion of the final dance. Woodwind and muted trumpets are prominent throughout the Introduction, which ends with a number of rising cadences on strings and flutes. Musical phrases are never fully resolved, leading to a sense of building anticipation._

Cercles mystérieux des adolescentes: [21:17 - 24:26](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=1277)

_The young girls engage in mysterious games, walking in circles. The transition into the "Mystic Circles" is almost imperceptible; the main theme of the section has been prefigured in the Introduction. A loud repeated chord, which Berger likens to a call to order, announces the moment for choosing the sacrificial victim._

Glorification de l'élue: [24:26 - 25:58](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=1466)

_One of the young girls is selected by fate, being twice caught in the perpetual circle, and is honoured as the Chosen One with a martial dance…[it] is brief and violent._

Évocation des ancêtres: [25:58 - 26:50](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=1558)

_In a brief dance, the young girls invoke the ancestors. Short phrases are interspersed with drum rolls._

Action rituelle des ancêtres: [26:50 - 30:00](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=1610)

_The Chosen One is entrusted to the care of the old wise men. The "Ritual Action of the Ancestors" begins quietly, but slowly builds to a series of climaxes before subsiding suddenly into the quiet phrases that began the episode._

Danse sacrale (L'Élue): [30:00 - 34:14](https://youtu.be/a9M2oTHa3GM?t=1800)

_The Chosen One dances to death in the presence of the old men, in the great[Sacrificial Dance](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/Sacrificialdance.jpg). This is written as a more disciplined ritual than the extravagant dance that ended Part I, though it contains some wild moments, with the large percussion section of the orchestra given full voice...The abrupt ending displeased several critics, one of whom wrote that the music "suddenly falls over on its side." Stravinsky himself referred to the final chord disparagingly as "a noise."_
    
    
    1.  Hewett, Ivan. "Did The Rite of Spring Really Spark a Riot?" BBC News. May 29, 2013. <https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22691267>.
    2.  "The Rite of Spring." Wikipedia. March 14, 2019. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rite_of_Spring>.


End file.
